Microsoft has apologized and quickly reversed a price increase of its Xbox Live Gold service just hours after the company announced it was doubling the annual fee for the popular gaming service.
Forbes reports that tech giant Microsoft announced that it would be doubling the price of its Xbox Live Gold service from $60 a year to $120 a year in a move that seemed to come out of nowhere for many users. The price doubling caused massive pushback and outcry from users and members of the press who stated that Xbox Live Gold was now “the worst deal in gaming.”
14 hours later Microsoft announced that not only would it be preventing the planned price increase, but they were also now working on making all free-to-play games capable of being played without needing Xbox Live Gold, a move that had been requested by users for some time. This means that incredibly popular free-to-play games such as Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legends would no longer require an Xbox Live Gold membership to be accessed by Xbox players. The company wrote: “We always try to do our best for you and today we missed the mark.”
Today was not great. We always try to do our best for you and today we missed the mark.
We hear you, and we’re reversing our Xbox Live Gold pricing updates.
— Xbox (@Xbox) January 23, 2021
Some believed that the quick reversal of the price increase implied that the initial announcement may have been a publicity stunt on Xbox’s part, but insider reporting appears to imply that was not the case. The Xbox Live Gold price increase was planned for a long time to the point where the company had already printed and shipped new gift cards to stores reflecting the higher price.
The idea of allowing free-to-play games to be accessed without Xbox Live Gold was also being discussed regularly inside the company, but Microsoft decided to announce the move early to offset the bad press over the price increase.
Read more about the situation at Forbes here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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